Pious pulp

That a mosh pit of reviewers would fall over each other to pan the The Da Vinci Code is puzzling. It’s not a great film, but then it isn’t a great book. If you want car chases, go see Mission: Impossible III. If you want a whodunit, don’t turn to a novel so widely discussed that even those who haven’t read it know who the bad guy is (and where the “sacred feminine” is buried). If you want a profound, subtle meditation on faith, then a story with a self-flagellating, murderous albino monk is probably not your bag.

On the other hand, if you want lots of sitting around and ham-handed talk about theology and church history, this is your film. The book’s facile theology is more obvious on screen than in the book. Look—the Star of David is made of two superimposed triangles, “just like the pagans would have wanted.” Look—a bulge and a space. It must mean a phallus and a womb!